RCB vs KKR Prediction: Who will win today's IPL 2022 match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders?
12 overs into the second innings of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had all but booked their slot in Qualifier 2. Sunil Narine had just smashed Dan Christian for three sixes in an over, serving as a metaphorical breaking point for Virat Kohli's increasingly scrutinized captaincy.
While RCB managed to drag the game into the final over, it was clear that things needed to change in the franchise. Kohli stepped down as captain, with the three-time finalists retaining three players ahead of the IPL 2022 auction. KKR, meanwhile, stuck to their big guns after reaching the IPL 2021 final and held onto a good part of their core.
KKR even won their first game of the new edition, defeating the defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) comprehensively to start the Shreyas Iyer era on a good note. Meanwhile, RCB floundered after an excellent batting performance against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) to turn in a horror bowling display. As they wait for Glenn Maxwell and Josh Hazlewood to return, Faf du Plessis' men need to get their bowling act together.
The DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai will play host to the encounter as RCB attempt to notch up their first points of IPL 2022 and KKR seek to keep their winning run going.
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IPL 2022 Match Prediction: RCB vs KKR
RCB's top four of Faf du Plessis, Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik all got to spend some time in the middle against PBKS and notched up some runs. With not much batting to follow in Maxwell's absence, the quartet will have a lot riding on them once again.
RCB's biggest concern will be how they counter the spin threat of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine. Maxwell would've been the ideal man to take them on, as he did last season, but Du Plessis, Kohli and Karthik aren't the greatest options to accelerate in the middle overs. With Shivam Mavi and Umesh Yadav generating good pace up top as well, KKR's bowling lineup will be confident of curtailing the RCB batters.
But KKR's batting lineup didn't inspire much confidence despite a promising performance against CSK. Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer are capable of being restricted by accurate bowling plans, while the middle order comprising Sheldon Jackson, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine haven't spent enough time in the middle this year. Wanindu Hasaranga, who had a tough outing against PBKS, could be a key man for RCB.
IPL 2022's first game at the DY Patil Stadium, the RCB versus PBKS encounter, produced an excellent wicket for batting. That could play into KKR's hands, since they have a bowling attack to outplay their opponents. A close encounter should be on the cards, but both KKR and the venue appear to have contributed to a negative match-up for RCB.
Prediction: KKR to win Match 6 of IPL 2022